Time- and geolocation-limited marketplace

ABSTRACT

In some embodiments, an app provides a geolocation-limited marketplace limited to a pre-defined period of time. The geolocation-limited marketplace is accessible only by the users in a predefined geographical area. Typically, the predefined geographical area is limited to an area small enough for a user to walk from one end to the other in a short period of time. The pre-defined period of time is of some limited length of time that may occur at a pre-defined interval. In some instances, the period of time is one hour.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims the benefit of priorityof U.S. application Ser. No. 16/386,618, filed Apr. 17, 2019, which is acontinuation of and claims the benefit of priority of U.S. applicationSer. No. 14/097,129, filed Dec. 4, 2013, which claims the benefit ofpriority of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/829,021, filed onMay 30, 2013, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present application relates generally using location and time datato provide information for a publication system.

BACKGROUND

Users carry mobile devices (e.g., smartphones) as they pursue theirdaily activities. The mobile devices include and have access to ageolocation service (e.g., a global positioning service (GPS)). Thegeolocation service may be used to identify the geolocation of themobile device and, assuming the mobile device is in the possession ofthe user, the user. The mobile device may have one or more applications(i.e., “apps”) that use the present location determined by thegeolocation service to present information to the user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not limitationsin the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram depicting a network architecture of asystem, according to some embodiments, having a client-serverarchitecture configured for exchanging data over a network.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram showing components provided withinthe system of FIG. 1 according to example embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates listed items in a time and geolocation limitedmarketplace, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a screen shot illustrating items, in a time and geolocationlimited marketplace, listed by geographical area, according to anexample embodiment.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are screen shots illustrating additional information aboutlisted items in time and geolocation listed marketplace according toexample embodiments.

FIG. 7 is a screen shot illustrating a marketkplace in which aprospective buyer may communicate with a seller in near real timeaccording to an example embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a screen shot illustrating a marketplace in which a seller mayreply to a prospective buyer's communication in near real time accordingto an example embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a screen shot illustrating a marketplace in which aprospective buyer may respond to a seller's communication in near realtime according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a screenshot illustrating a time and geolocation limitedmarketplace initiating access to another affiliated marketplace forlisting items for sale on the time and geolocation limited marketplace,according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a screenshot illustrating a step in a process of listing anitem for sale on a time and geolocation limited marketplace, accordingto an example embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a screenshot illustrating an additional step in a process oflisting an item for sale on a time and geolocation limited marketplaceaccording to an example embodiment.

FIGS. 13 and 14 are screen shots illustrating reviewing steps in aprocess of listing an item for sale on a time and geolocation limitedmarketplace according to example embodiments.

FIG. 15 is a screen shot illustrating steps that may be associated withcompleting a process of listing an item for sale on a time andgeolocation limited marketplace, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 16 is screen shot illustrating displaying a listed item to otherusers on a time and geolocation limited marketplace, according to anexample embodiment.

FIG. 17 illustrates a diagrammatic representation of a machine in theexample form of a computer system within which a set of instructions maybe executed to cause the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialthat is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentor the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and TrademarkOffice patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrightrights whatsoever. The following notice applies to the software and dataas described below and in the drawings that form a part of thisdocument: Copyright eBay, Inc. 2013, All Rights Reserved.

Example methods and systems to provide a time- and geolocation-limitedmarketplace are described. In the following description, for purposes ofexplanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to providea thorough understanding of example embodiments. It will be evident,however, to one skilled in the art that the present invention may bepracticed without these specific details.

In online publication systems such as, in one embodiment, marketplaces,users buy and sell goods with one another. Some online marketplaces mayhave just one seller while others may have multiple sellers. Themarketplaces may be accessed via the Internet or another communicationsnetwork. Typically, the users publish a description of a good they wouldlike to buy or sell. In some instances, the good may be a physical itemwhile in others the good may be a service or experience. The good may betypically associated with a geographical location where it may be storedor from which it may be offered. For example, a good that is anexperience may be offered by a restaurant at a particular geolocation.

In some embodiments, an app may provide a geolocation-limitedmarketplace limited to a pre-defined period of time. Thegeolocation-limited marketplace is accessible by users in a predefinedgeographical area. The predefined geographical area may be defined asbeing within a threshold distance of a specified location. Thepredefined geographical area may be shaped or defined in terms oflandmarks, street names and intersections, school or work campuses,neighborhoods, event venues, etc. Distance calculation technology iswell known and may be found, in one example, in U.S. Pat. No. 7,395,257entitled “Automated Method and System to Calculate the Surface DistanceBetween Two Geographical Locations, and to Filter a Data Set Based onthe Calculation,” issued Jul. 1, 2008 and incorporated herein byreference in its entirety. Typically, the predefined geographical areamay be limited to an area small enough for a user to walk from one endto the other in a short period of time (e.g., approximately 2 miles).The geographical area may, however, be larger or smaller depending on anumber of factors including the purpose of the marketplace, the mobilityof the target users, and other factors.

The pre-defined period of time may be defined by the online marketplace.The pre-defined period of time may be of some limited length of timethat occurs at a pre-defined interval. The limited length of time may bedefined according to a time of day, a time of another event, a thresholddensity of users being located in the geographical area, or some othercriteria. The pre-defined period of time may be as short as a fewminutes or extend over a number of hours. In some instances, the periodof time is one hour. In another embodiment, the pre-defined time periodmay be defined by a user of the online marketplace.

FIG. 1 is a network diagram depicting a client-server system 100, withinwhich one example embodiment may be deployed. A networked system 102, inthe example forms of a network-based marketplace or publication system(sometimes referred to as “publisher”), provides server-sidefunctionality, via a network 104 (e.g., the Internet or Wide AreaNetwork (WAN)) to one or more clients. FIG. 1 illustrates, for example,a web client 106 (e.g., a browser), and a programmatic client 108executing on respective client machines 110 and 112.

An Application Program Interface (API) server 114 and a web server 116are coupled to, and provide programmatic and web interfaces respectivelyto, one or more application servers 118. The application servers 118host one or more marketplace applications 120 and payment applications122. The application servers 118 are, in turn, shown to be coupled toone or more databases servers 124 that facilitate access to one or moredatabases 126.

The marketplace applications 120 may provide a number of marketplacefunctions and services to users that access the networked system 102.The payment applications 122 may likewise provide a number of paymentservices and functions to users. The payment applications 122 may allowusers to accumulate value (e.g., in a commercial currency, such as theU.S. dollar, or a proprietary currency, such as “points”) in accounts,and then later to redeem the accumulated value for products (.e.g.,goods or services) that are made available via the marketplaceapplications 120. While the marketplace and payment applications 120 and122 are shown in FIG. 1 to both form part of the networked system 102,it will be appreciated that, in alternative embodiments, the paymentapplications 122 may form part of a payment service that may be separateand distinct from the networked system 102.

Further, while the system 100 shown in FIG. 1 employs client-serverarchitecture, the present disclosure is of course not limited to such anarchitecture, and could equally well find application in a distributed,or peer-to-peer, architecture system, for example. The variousmarketplace and payment applications 120 and 122 could also beimplemented as standalone software programs, which do not necessarilyhave networking capabilities.

The web client 106 accesses the various marketplace and paymentapplications 120 and 122 via the web interface supported by the webserver 116. Similarly, the programmatic client 108 accesses the variousservices and functions provided by the marketplace and paymentapplications 120 and 122 via the programmatic interface provided by theAPI server 114. The programmatic client 108 may, for example, be aseller application (e.g., the TurboLister application developed by eBayInc., of San Jose, Calif.) to enable sellers to author and managelistings on the networked system 102 in an off-line manner, and toperform batch-mode communications between the programmatic client 108and the networked system 102.

FIG. 1 also illustrates a third party application 128, executing on athird party server machine 130, as having programmatic access to thenetworked system 102 via the programmatic interface provided by the APIserver 114. For example, the third party application 128 may, utilizinginformation retrieved from the networked system 102, support one or morefeatures or functions on a website hosted by the third party. The thirdparty website may, for example, provide one or more promotional,marketplace or payment functions that are supported by the relevantapplications of the networked system 102.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram showing applications of applicationserver(s) that are part of the network system 101, in an exampleembodiment. In this embodiment, the publication system 120, and thepayment system 120 may be hosted by the application server(s) 118 of thenetwork system 101. The publication system 120 and the payment system122 may be hosted on dedicated or shared server machines (not shown)that are communicatively coupled to enable communications between servermachines. The applications themselves may be communicatively coupled(e.g., via appropriate interfaces) to each other and to various datasources, so as to allow information to be passed between theapplications or so as to allow the applications to share and accesscommon data.

The publication system 120 are shown to include at least one or moreauction application(s) 212 which support auction-format listing andprice setting mechanisms (e.g., English, Dutch, Vickrey, Chinese,Double, Reverse auctions etc.). The auction application(s) 212 may alsoprovide a number of features in support of such auction-format listings,such as a reserve price feature whereby a seller may specify a reserveprice in connection with a listing and a proxy-bidding feature whereby abidder may invoice automated proxy bidding. The auction-format offer inany format may be published in any virtual or physical marketplacemedium and may be considered the point of sale for the commercetransaction between a seller and a buyer (or two users).

One or more fixed-price application(s) 214 support fixed-price listingformats (e.g., the traditional classified advertisement-type listing ora catalogue listing) and buyout-type listings. Specifically, buyout-typelistings (e.g., including the Buy-It-Now® (BIN) technology developed byeBay Inc., of San Jose, Calif.) may be offered in conjunction withauction-format listings, and allow a buyer to purchase goods orservices, which are also being offered for sale via an auction, for afixed-price that may be typically higher than the starting price of theauction.

The application(s) of the application server(s) 118 may include one ormore store application(s) 216 that allow a seller to group listingswithin a “virtual” store. The virtual store may be branded and otherwisepersonalized by and for the seller. Such a virtual store may also offerpromotions, incentives and features that are specific and personalizedto a relevant seller.

Navigation of the online marketplace may be facilitated by one or morenavigation application(s) 220. For example, a search application (as anexample of a navigation application) may enable key word searches oflistings published via the network-based publisher 102. A browseapplication may allow users to browse various category, catalogue, orinventory data structures according to which listings may be classifiedwithin the network-based publisher 102. Various other navigationapplications may be provided to supplement the search and browsingapplications.

Merchandizing application(s) 222 support various merchandising functionsthat are made available to sellers to enable sellers to increase salesvia the network-based publisher 102. The merchandizing application(s)222 also operate the various merchandising features that may be invokedby sellers, and may monitor and track the success of merchandisingstrategies employed by sellers.

Personalization application(s) 230 allow users of the network-basedpublisher 102 to personalize various aspects of their interactions withthe network-based publisher 102. For example, a user may, utilizing anappropriate personalization application 230, create a personalizedreference page at which information regarding transactions to which theuser may be (or has been) a party may be viewed. Further, thepersonalization application(s) 230 may enable a third party topersonalize products and other aspects of their interactions with thenetwork-based publisher 102 and other parties, or to provide otherinformation, such as relevant business information about themselves.

The publication system 120 may include one or more internationalizationapplication(s) 232. In one embodiment, the network-based publisher 102may support a number of marketplaces that are customized, for example,for specific geographic regions. A version of the network-basedpublisher 102 may be customized for the United Kingdom, whereas anotherversion of the network-based publisher 102 may be customized for theUnited States. Each of these versions may operate as an independentmarketplace, or may be customized (or internationalized) presentationsof a common underlying marketplace. The network-based publisher 102 mayaccordingly include a number of internationalization application(s) 232that customize information (and/or the presentation of information) bythe network-based publisher 102 according to predetermined criteria(e.g., geographic, demographic or marketplace criteria). For example,the internationalization application(s) 232 may be used to support thecustomization of information for a number of regional websites that areoperated by the network-based publisher 102 and that are accessible viarespective web servers.

Reputation application(s) 234 allow users that transact, utilizing thenetwork-based publisher 102, to establish, build and maintainreputations, which may be made available and published to potentialtrading partners. Consider that where, for example, the network-basedpublisher 102 supports person-to-person trading, users may otherwisehave no history or other reference information whereby thetrustworthiness and credibility of potential trading partners may beassessed. The reputation application(s) 234 allow a user, for examplethrough feedback provided by other transaction partners, to establish areputation within the network-based publisher 102 over time. Otherpotential trading partners may then reference such a reputation for thepurposes of assessing credibility and trustworthiness.

In order to make listings, available via the network-based publisher102, as visually informing and attractive as possible, the publicationsystem 120 may include one or more imaging application(s) 236 utilizingwhich users may upload images for inclusion within listings. An imagingapplication 236 also operates to incorporate images within viewedlistings. The imaging application(s) 236 may also support one or morepromotional features, such as image galleries that are presented topotential buyers. For example, sellers may generally pay an additionalfee to have an image included within a gallery of images for promoteditems.

The publication system 120 may include one or more offer creationapplication(s) 238. The offer creation application(s) 238 allow sellersconveniently to author products pertaining to goods or services thatthey wish to transact via the network-based publisher 102. Offermanagement application(s) 240 allow sellers to manage offers, such asgoods, services, or donation opportunities. Specifically, where aparticular seller has authored and/or published a large number ofproducts, the management of such products may present a challenge. Theoffer management application(s) 240 provide a number of features (e.g.,auto-reproduce, inventory level monitors, etc.) to assist the seller inmanaging such products. One or more post-offer management application(s)242 also assist sellers with a number of activities that typically occurpost-offer. For example, upon completion of an auction facilitated byone or more auction application(s) 212, a seller may wish to leavefeedback regarding a particular buyer. To this end, a post-offermanagement application 242 may provide an interface to one or morereputation application(s) 234, so as to allow the seller conveniently toprovide feedback regarding multiple buyers to the reputationapplication(s) 234.

The dispute resolution application(s) 246 may provide mechanisms wherebydisputes arising between transacting parties may be resolved. Forexample, the dispute resolution application(s) 246 may provide guidedprocedures whereby the parties are guided through a number of steps inan attempt to settle a dispute. In the event that the dispute cannot besettled via the guided procedures, the dispute may be escalated to amediator or arbitrator.

The fraud prevention application(s) 248 may implement various frauddetection and prevention mechanisms to reduce the occurrence of fraudwithin the network-based publisher 102. The fraud preventionapplication(s) may prevent fraud with respect to the third party and/orthe client user in relation to any part of the request, payment,information flows and/or request fulfilment. Fraud may occur withrespect to unauthorized use of financial instruments, non-delivery ofgoods, and abuse of personal information.

Authentication application(s) 250 may verify the identity of a user, andmay be used in conjunction with the fraud prevention application(s) 248.The user may be requested to submit verification of identity, anidentifier upon making the purchase request, for example. Verificationmay be made by a code entered by the user, a cookie retrieved from thedevice, a phone number/identification pair, a username/password pair,handwriting, and/or biometric methods, such as voice data, face data,iris data, finger print data, and hand data. In some embodiments, theuser may not be permitted to login without appropriate authentication.The system (e.g., the FSP) may automatically recognize the user, basedupon the particular network-based device used and a retrieved cookie,for example.

The network-based publisher 102 itself, or one or more parties thattransact via the network-based publisher 102, may operate loyaltyprograms and other types of promotions that are supported by one or moreloyalty/promotions application(s) 254. For example, a buyer/client usermay earn loyalty or promotions points for each transaction establishedand/or concluded with a particular seller/third party, and may beoffered a reward for which accumulated loyalty points can be redeemed.

The application server(s) 118 may include messaging application(s) 256.The messaging application(s) 256 are responsible for the generation anddelivery of messages to client users and third parties of thenetwork-based publisher 102. Information in these messages may bepertinent to services offered by, and activities performed via, thepayment system 120. Such messages, for example, advise client usersregarding the status of products (e.g., providing “out of stock” or“outbid” notices to client users) or payment status (e.g., providinginvoice for payment, Notification of a Payment Received, deliverystatus, invoice notices). Third parties may be notified of a productorder, payment confirmation and/or shipment information. Respectivemessaging application(s) 256 may utilize any one of a number of messagedelivery networks and platforms to deliver messages to users. Forexample, messaging application(s) 256 may deliver electronic mail(e-mail), instant message (IM), Short Message Service (SMS), text,facsimile, or voice (e.g., Voice over IP (VoIP)) messages via the wired(e.g., the Internet), Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS), or wireless(e.g., mobile, cellular, WiFi, WiMAX) networks.

The payment system 120 may include one or more payment processingapplication(s) 258. The payment processing application(s) 258 mayreceive electronic invoices from the merchants and may receive paymentsassociated with the electronic invoices. The payment system 120 may alsomake use of functions performed by some applications included in thepublication system 120.

The publication system 120 may include one or more social networkapplication(s) 260.

The publication system 120 may also include one or more time- andgeolocation-limiting application(s) 262 which may be used for thetime-and geolocation-limited system described in more detail below.

As stated briefly above, an app may provide a geolocation-limitedmarketplace which may also be limited to a pre-defined period of time.The geolocation-limited marketplace may be accessible by users in apredefined geographical area.

If the user is located within the geographical area during thepredefined period of time, the user may open an app to access themarketplace to post items for sale and to purchase items posted forsale. In some instances, the user may open the app in response toreceiving a prompt or notification.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate two ways to browse registered retailers thatare geographically close to the user. The view of each of these twofigures is keyed off the user's location. FIG. 3 incorporates anarbitrary algorithm to rank the sales based on a popularity metric whichmay be decided upon by the system designer. The location of each figureis represented by the blue pin seen at 420 of FIG. 4, which isdisplaying a location on Hamilton Avenue in the city of Campbell,Calif., east of Bascom Avenue. The screen capture may be taken from theuser's smart phone. FIGS. 3 and 4 are therefore different ways todisplay data for sellers in the located in the Campbell, Calif., area.The different map pins in FIG. 4 match up with the different table cellentries from FIG. 3. As a buyer, the user may browse items posted (e.g.,listed for sale) in the time- and geolocation-limited marketplace 300.The app may include a countdown timer 310, which may be in minutes andseconds, indicating how much longer the user can purchase the posteditems such as selectable listings for a stroller 320 and boots 330during that particular instance of the marketplace.

The items offered for sale on the marketplace may be listed byselectable image/title such as 320, 330 of FIG. 3, or by selectablelisting indicated as at a location, 420, on a displayed map 400 of thegeographical area of FIG. 4 From these interfaces, the user may accessadditional information about the item for sale. For example, by clickingon listing 410 of FIG. 4, to obtain information such as the price,discount offered, and the like as at 510 of FIG. 5. Further in FIG. 5,the buyer may purchase an item by selecting buy icon 520. Additionally,clicking on the selectable icon 410 of FIG. 4 may provide theinformation of FIG. 6 which may indicate the identity of the seller 610,here a dessert and chocolate shop named Sugar Butter Flour; the feedbackthe publication system has accumulated from this seller account, 620,here 99.9% positive; when the item is available 630; and the address ofthe seller, 640. In one embodiment the feedback may be pinned to theecommerce marketplace feedback that the seller has accumulated from theseller's ecommerce marketplace seller account. In another embodiment,there may be a custom feedback accumulator for the app. In someinstances, for example as illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8, the buyer mayask the seller a question about an the item offered for sale as at 710of FIG. 7 by using a text messaging function within the app. The sellermay respond within the app using text as at 810 of FIG. 8. Similarly,the potential buyer may respond to the seller as at 910 in FIG. 9. Inanother embodiment the correspondence may be by email, either within orexternal to the app.

To list items for sale in the time- and geolocation-limited marketplace,the user may access the app by logging in to another affiliatedmarketplace (e.g., eBay.com) as seen in FIG. 10. In one embodimentsellers may want to use their eBay account to log in and list items forsale. This may allow a number of the listing information fields to bepre-populated with data from the seller's eBay account. In someinstances, the user may post items only when the user is within thegeographical area during the predefined period of time. :In otherinstances, the user may post only when within the geographical area butoutside of the predefined period of time. For example, a seller locatedin, and offering goods at Sugar Butter Flour in, Campbell, Calif., wouldpost, or list, items for sale at Sugar Butter Flour, which is at thegeo-location indicated in the map of FIG. 4. In other instances, theuser may post items for sale regardless of the user's present locationand the present time. In some instances, to post an item for sale duringthe pre-defined period of time, the user may be required to be presentin the geographical area. But outside of the pre-defined period of time,the user may post items for sale from other geographic locations. Forexample, the seller may post items when the seller's device is anywhereand those postings would just be keyed to the seller's home base, whichis Sugar Butter Flour in the current example. For example, the seller'saccount could be registered at the address in Campbell, Calif. for SugarButter Flour, and people in Campbell are the ones that will see theseller's postings, regardless of where the seller is located whenposting items.

A series of user interfaces may be presented to the user via the app toallow the user to provide listing or other information about the itemsfor sale. A user may be prompted to provide a title as at 1110 of FIG.11, A user may be prompted to provide one or more pictures of the itemas at 1210 of FIG. 12. The pictures may be captured using a cameraintegrated within a mobile device that may be used by the user in thisinstance of the marketplace. The user may preview the captured image asat 1310 and 1410 of FIGS. 13 and 14, In other instances, the user mayselect one or more stored images to associate with the listing. The usermay provide additional details as in FIG. 15, which may include a textdescription 1510, sale price 1520, retail price 1539, discount (notshown) and quantity available 1540. The app may then access a profile ofthe user for information about the user such as name or username,location, payment options, pick-up or delivery options, and the like.The listing, for example 1610, 1620, 1630, may then displayed to otherusers within the marketplace as at FIG. 16 at the next predefined timein the geographical area. In some instances, the listing may be shown toother users only if the selling user is actually located within thegeographical area at the predefined time. The location of the sellinguser may be determined using GPS, WiFi, or other location-basedtechnology.

In some instances, users may be able to filter items published in themarketplace according to various characteristics. The characteristicsmay include category, price, delivery or pick-up options, delivery fees,keywords, seller reputation, a discount available, and the like.

Example algorithms that may be used to implement the foregoing may be asfollows. The steps need not be undertaken in the numerical orderindicated.

-   -   1. providing a user interface that displays an item at a        geographical location;    -   2. receiving a signal requesting access to the displayed item;    -   3. detecting the distance between the source of the signal and        the geographical location;    -   4. determining whether the distance is within a predetermined        distance;    -   5. responsive to determining that the distance is within the        predetermined distance, granting access to the item.

Another algorithm that may be used may be as follows.

-   -   1. providing a user interface that displays an item at a        geographical location;    -   2. receiving a signal requesting access to the displayed item;    -   3. detecting the time at which the signal is received;    -   4. determining whether the time is within a predetermined time        period;    -   5. responsive to determining that the time is within e        predetermined time period, granting the requested access.

Modules, Components and Logic

Certain embodiments are described herein as including logic or a numberof components, modules, or mechanisms. Modules may constitute eithersoftware modules (e.g., code embodied (1) on a non-transitorymachine-readable medium or (2) in a transmission signal) orhardware-implemented modules. A hardware-implemented module is atangible unit capable of performing certain operations and may beconfigured or arranged in a certain manner. In example embodiments, oneor more computer systems (e.g., a standalone, client or server computersystem) or one or more processors may be configured by software (e.g.,an application or application portion) as a hardware-implemented modulethat operates to perform certain operations as described herein.

In various embodiments, a hardware-implemented module may be implementedmechanically or electronically. For example, a hardware-implementedmodule may comprise dedicated circuitry or logic that is permanentlyconfigured (e.g., as a special-purpose processor, such as a fieldprogrammable gate array (FPGA) or an application-specific integratedcircuit (ASIC)) to perform certain operations. A hardware-implementedmodule may also comprise programmable logic or circuitry (e.g., asencompassed within a general-purpose processor or other programmableprocessor) that is temporarily configured by software to perform certainoperations. It will be appreciated that the decision to implement ahardware-implemented module mechanically, in dedicated and permanentlyconfigured circuitry, or in temporarily configured circuitry (e.g.,configured by software) may be driven by cost and time considerations.

Accordingly, the term “hardware-implemented module” should be understoodto encompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that is physicallyconstructed, permanently configured (e.g., hardwired) or temporarily ortransitorily configured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a certainmanner and/or to perform certain operations described herein,Considering embodiments in which hardware-implemented modules aretemporarily configured (e.g., programmed), each of thehardware-implemented modules need not be configured or instantiated atany one instance in time. For example, where the hardware-implementedmodules comprise a general-purpose processor configured using software,the general-purpose processor may be configured as respective differenthardware-implemented modules at different times. Software mayaccordingly configure a processor, for example, to constitute aparticular hardware-implemented module at one instance of time and toconstitute a different hardware-implemented module at a differentinstance of time.

Hardware-implemented modules can provide information to, and receiveinformation from, other hardware-implemented modules. Accordingly, thedescribed hardware-implemented modules may be regarded as beingcommunicatively coupled. Where multiple of such hardware-implementedmodules exist contemporaneously, communications may be achieved throughsignal transmission (e.g., over appropriate circuits and buses) thatconnect the hardware-implemented modules. In embodiments in whichmultiple hardware-implemented modules are configured or instantiated atdifferent times, communications between such hardware-implementedmodules may be achieved, for example, through the storage and retrievalof information in memory structures to which the multiplehardware-implemented modules have access. For example, onehardware-implemented module may perform an operation, and store theoutput of that operation in a memory device to which it iscommunicatively coupled. A further hardware-implemented module may then,at a later time, access the memory device to retrieve and process thestored output. Hardware-implemented modules may also initiatecommunications with input or output devices, and can operate on aresource (e.g., a collection of information).

The various operations of example methods described herein may beperformed, at least partially, by one or more processors that aretemporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured toperform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanentlyconfigured, such processors may constitute processor-implemented modulesthat operate to perform one or more operations or functions. The modulesreferred to herein may, in some example embodiments, compriseprocessor-implemented modules.

Similarly, the methods described herein may be at least partiallyprocessor-implemented. For example, at least some of the operations of amethod may be performed by one or processors or processor-implementedmodules. The performance of certain of the operations may be distributedamong the one or more processors, not only residing within a singlemachine, but deployed across a number of machines. In some exampleembodiments, the processor or processors may be located in a singlelocation (e.g., within a home environment, an office environment or as aserver farm), while in other embodiments the processors may bedistributed across a number of locations.

The one or more processors may also operate to support performance ofthe relevant operations in a “cloud computing” environment or as a“software as a service” (SaaS). For example, at least some of theoperations may be performed by a group of computers (as examples ofmachines including processors), these operations being accessible via anetwork (e.g., the Internet) and via one or more appropriate interfaces(e.g., Application Program Interfaces (APIs).)

Electronic Apparatus and System

Example embodiments may be implemented in digital electronic circuitry,or in computer hardware, firmware, software, or in combinations of them.Example embodiments may be implemented using a computer program product,e.g., a computer program tangibly embodied in an information carrier,e.g., in a machine-readable medium for execution by, or to control theoperation of, data processing apparatus, e.g., a programmable processor,a computer, or multiple computers.

A computer program can be written in any form of programming language,including compiled or interpreted languages, and it can be deployed inany form, including as a stand-alone program or as a module, subroutine,or other unit suitable for use in a computing environment. A computerprogram can be deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiplecomputers at one site or distributed across multiple sites andinterconnected by a communication network.

In example embodiments, operations may be performed by one or moreprogrammable processors executing a computer program to performfunctions by operating on input data and generating output. Methodoperations can also be performed by, and apparatus of exampleembodiments may be implemented as, special purpose logic circuitry,e.g., a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application-specificintegrated circuit (ASIC).

The computing system can include clients and servers. A client andserver are generally remote from each other and typically interactthrough a communication network. The relationship of client and serverarises by virtue of computer programs running on the respectivecomputers and having a client-server relationship to each other. Inembodiments deploying a programmable computing system, it will beappreciated that that both hardware and software architectures requireconsideration. Specifically, it will be appreciated that the choice ofwhether to implement certain functionality in permanently configuredhardware (e.g., an ASIC), in temporarily configured hardware (e.g., acombination of software and a programmable processor), or a combinationof permanently and temporarily configured hardware may be a designchoice. Below are set out hardware (e.g., machine) and softwarearchitectures that may be deployed, in various example embodiments.

Example Machine Architecture and Machine-Readable Medium

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of machine in the example form of a computersystem 200 within which instructions, for causing the machine to performany one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, may be executed.In alternative embodiments, the machine operates as a standalone deviceor may be connected (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networkeddeployment, the machine may operate in the capacity of a server or aclient machine in server-client network environment, or as a peermachine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. Themachine may be a personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box(STB), a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a cellular telephone, a webappliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any machine capable ofexecuting instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions tobe taken by that machine. Further, while only a single machine isillustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken to include anycollection of machines that individually or jointly execute a set (ormultiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein.

The example computer system 200 includes a processor 202 (e.g., acentral processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU) orboth), a main memory 204 and a static memory 206, which communicate witheach other via a bus 208. The computer system 200 may further include avideo display unit 210 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) or acathode ray tube (CRT)). The computer system 200 also includes analphanumeric input device 212 (e.g., a keyboard or a touch-sensitivedisplay screen), a user interface (UI) navigation device 214 (e.g., amouse), a disk drive unit 216, a signal generation device 218 (e.g., aspeaker) and a network interface device 220.

Machine-Readable Medium

The disk drive unit 216 includes a machine-readable medium 222 on whichis stored one or more sets of instructions and data structures (e.g.,software) 224 embodying or utilized by any one or more of themethodologies or functions described herein. The instructions 224 mayalso reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory204 and/or within the processor 202 during execution thereof by thecomputer system 200, the main memory 204 and the processor 202 alsoconstituting machine-readable media.

While the machine-readable medium 222 is shown in an example embodimentto be a single medium, the term “machine-readable medium” may include asingle medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributeddatabase, and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one ormore instructions or data structures. The term “machine-readable medium”shall also be taken to include any tangible medium that is capable ofstoring, encoding or carrying instructions for execution by the machineand that cause the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies of the present invention, or that is capable of storing,encoding or carrying data structures utilized by or associated with suchinstructions. The term “machine-readable medium” shall accordingly betaken to include, but not be limited to, solid-state memories, andoptical and magnetic media. Specific examples of machine-readable mediainclude non-volatile memory, including by way of example semiconductormemory devices, e.g., Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM),Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), and flashmemory devices; magnetic disks such as internal hard disks and removabledisks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks.

Transmission Medium

The instructions 224 may further be transmitted or received over acommunications network 226 using a transmission medium. The instructions224 may be transmitted using the network interface device 220 and anyone of a number of well-known transfer protocols (e.g., HTTP). Examplesof communication networks include a local area network (“LAN”), a widearea network (“WAN”), the Internet, mobile telephone networks, Plain OldTelephone (POTS) networks, and wireless data networks (e.g., WiFi andWiMax networks). The term “transmission medium” shall be taken toinclude any intangible medium that is capable of storing, encoding orcarrying instructions for execution by the machine, and includes digitalor analog communications signals or other intangible media to facilitatecommunication of such software.

Although an embodiment has been described with reference to specificexample embodiments, it will be evident that various modifications andchanges may be made to these embodiments without departing from thebroader spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, thespecification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative ratherthan a restrictive sense. The accompanying drawings that form a parthereof, show by way of illustration, and not of limitation, specificembodiments in which the subject matter may be practiced. Theembodiments illustrated are described in sufficient detail to enablethose skilled in the art to practice the teachings disclosed herein.Other embodiments may be utilized and derived therefrom, such thatstructural and logical substitutions and changes may be made withoutdeparting from the scope of this disclosure. This Detailed Description,therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope ofvarious embodiments is defined only by the appended claims, along withthe full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

Such embodiments of the inventive subject matter may be referred toherein, individually and/or collectively, by the term “invention” merelyfor convenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope ofthis application to any single invention or inventive concept if morethan one is in fact disclosed. Thus, although specific embodiments havebeen illustrated and described herein, it should be appreciated that anyarrangement calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substitutedfor the specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to coverany and all adaptations or variations of various embodiments.Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments notspecifically described herein, will be apparent to those of skill in theart upon reviewing the above description.

1. A method for listing a product for sale on an electronic publicationsystem, the method comprising: receiving data indicative of a shapecorresponding to a geographic area within which a product of products isphysically available for sale at a physical store; determining that aclient machine is located within the geographic area; and responsive todetermining that the client machine is located within the geographicarea: providing, to the client machine, a user interface including oneor more images of the product available for sale at the physical store;receiving, from the client machine, a signal requesting informationassociated with an item included in the user interface and correspondingto the product; and providing the information associated with the item.2. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting an instructionto the client machine to cause display of the item on the client machineafter the client machine enters the geographic area.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the user interface is a first user interface, themethod further comprising transmitting an instruction to the clientmachine to cause display of a second user interface that displays thegeographical location of the physical store.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein the user interface is a first user interface, further comprisingtransmitting an instruction to the client machine to display a seconduser interface to enable the client machine to send a message to aseller of the product.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the userinterface is a first user interface, the method further comprisingtransmitting an instruction to the client machine to display a seconduser interface that displays an additional product available for sale byanother store.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmittingan instruction to the client machine to display cost information for theproduct represented by the one or more images in the user interface. 7.The method of claim 1, wherein the user interface is a first userinterface, the method further comprising transmitting an instruction tothe client machine to display a second user interface that includesfeedback about a seller of the product.
 8. A system for listing aproduct for sale on an electronic publication system, the systemcomprising: a memory; and one or more processors, that when executinginstructions stored in the memory, perform operations comprising:receiving data indicative of a shape corresponding to a geographic areawithin which a product of products is physically available for sale at aphysical store; determining that a client machine is located within thegeographic area; and responsive to determining that the client machineis located within the geographic area: providing, to the client machine,a user interface including one or more images of the product availablefor sale at the physical store; receiving, from the client machine, asignal requesting information associated with an item included in theuser interface and corresponding to the product; and providing theinformation associated with the item.
 9. The system of claim 8, whereinthe operations further comprise transmitting an instruction to theclient machine to cause display of the item on the client machine afterthe client machine enters the geographic area.
 10. The system of claim8, wherein the user interface is a first user interface, and wherein theoperations further comprise transmitting an instruction to the clientmachine to cause display of a second user interface that displays thegeographical location of the physical store.
 11. The system of claim 8,wherein the user interface is a first user interface, and wherein theoperations further comprise transmitting an instruction to the clientmachine to display a second user interface to enable the client machineto send a message to a seller of the product.
 12. The system of claim 8,wherein the user interface is a first user interface, and wherein theoperations further comprise transmitting an instruction to the clientmachine to display a second user interface that displays an additionalproduct available for sale by another store.
 13. The system of claim 8,wherein the operations further comprise transmitting an instruction tothe client machine to display cost information for the productrepresented by the one or more images in the user interface.
 14. Thesystem of claim 8, wherein the user interface is a first user interface,and wherein the operations further comprise transmitting an instructionto the client machine to display a second user interface that includesfeedback about a seller of the product.
 15. A non-transitory computerreadable medium comprising non-transitory computer readable instructionsthat, when executed by a processor, configure the processor to performoperations for listing a product for sale on an electronic publicationsystem comprising: receiving data indicative of a shape corresponding toa geographic area within which a product of products is physicallyavailable for sale at a physical store; determining that a clientmachine is located within the geographic area; and responsive todetermining that the client machine is located within the geographicarea: providing, to the client machine, a user interface including oneor more images of the product available for sale at the physical store;receiving, from the client machine, a signal requesting informationassociated with an item included in the user interface and correspondingto the product; and providing the information associated with the item.16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein theoperations further comprise transmitting an instruction to the clientmachine to cause display of the item on the client machine after theclient machine enters the geographic area.
 17. The non-transitorycomputer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the user interface is afirst user interface, and wherein the operations further comprisetransmitting an instruction to the client machine to cause display of asecond user interface that displays the geographical location of thephysical store.
 18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim15, wherein the user interface is a first user interface, and whereinthe operations further comprise transmitting an instruction to theclient machine to display a second user interface to enable the clientmachine to send a message to a seller of the product.
 19. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the userinterface is a first user interface, and wherein the operations furthercomprise transmitting an instruction to the client machine to display asecond user interface that displays an additional product available forsale by another store.
 20. The non-transitory computer readable mediumof claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise transmitting aninstruction to the client machine to display cost information for theproduct represented by the one or more images in the user interface.